Jon Jones Eying 50 Wins, Compares Mark to Floyd Mayweather, 'All-Time Greats'

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has said he wants to become the first mixed martial artist to attain a 50-0 record and be remembered with the "all-time greats" of combat sports like Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The 31-year-old's official record is 23-1-1 (one no-contest), but Jones indicated to TMZ Sports he doesn't count his 2009 disqualification against Matt Hamill as a loss. He talked up the chance of a trilogy fight with UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and said he wants to reach 50 victories in MMA: 

"[The UFC] can convince me to fight Daniel Cormier. We give the fans what they want to see.

"I think 50-0 would be a really great number ... no one's ever done it. That puts you up there with Mayweather and some of the all-time greats in boxing.

"I'm 31 years old, and I believe the best is yet to come."

Jones was disqualified in the first round of his fight against Hamill at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale in December 2009 for throwing illegal downward elbows. He amassed a 6-0 record in smaller organisations before making his promotional debut at UFC 87 in August 2008, a unanimous-decision win over Andre Gusmao.

Bones is set to defend his UFC light heavyweight title against Anthony Smith at UFC 235 in Las Vegas on Saturday. He spoke to MMAFighting.com in the buildup to his bout with Lionheart, signalling his intention to fight four times in 2019 and, as he put it, cement his place as the greatest of all time:

Former five-weight world champion Mayweather accumulated his 50-0 record in boxing over a span of 21 years and beat UFC superstar Conor McGregor in August 2017 to mark his half-century win.

Both he and Jones have been followed by controversy in their personal lives for large portions of their careers, but MMA host Luke Thomas noted the run-up to UFC 235 as been calm for the latter:

Many already consider Jones the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, as he's beaten the likes of Cormier (twice, one ruled a NC), Alexander Gustafsson (twice), Lyoto Machida, Maurício "Shogun" Rua, Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort.

His submission victories over Belfort and Machida, in particular, have been celebrated as some of his finest:

The UFC has suspended Jones three times over the years for various drug violations, as well as for his arrest in 2015 following a hit-and-run incident that resulted in a pregnant woman breaking her arm.

Those absences mean Jones has missed out on several years' worth of potential fight fixtures. Considering it's taken him 11 years to rack up 25 fights (since his professional debut in April 2008), he may have to fight into his 40s to reach his goal.

Determined not to let his disqualification against Hamill blemish his record, Jones is eager to make up for lost time and boost a career he still sees as perfect.